Facade

—

"Mmh..."

Blonde hair sticking up in all directions, Meiss slowly lifted himself off of the bed. He yawned and stretched, gazing out of the window. It was an uncomfortable night, as most were ever since coming to this world.

"The stars look the same, but also different... I never paid attention to them much back home. I wish I had."

With a sigh, Meiss closed his eyes and sat in silence.

At least I woke up before the sun rose, instead of going to sleep after it rose.

—

Subaru kept his eyes closed as a finger traced the shape of his lips. It took all of his willpower to not form a smile as the finger traced a line onto his cheek. The second it poked his lips again Subaru opened his mouth and grabbed the finger with his teeth. A gentle exclamation was heard to his left as his teeth grasped the finger carefully. Popping open one eye, Subaru looked at Rem.

"Sho eben here you do zish shtuff."

"S-Subaru-kun!"

Subaru gently smiled and sat up as Rem retracted her finger and seized up like a frightened deer. The oni was dressed in her sky-blue nightgown, revealing she either woke up and immediately came to Subaru or didn't go to sleep. Subaru wasn't sure which of those two possibilities he should believe in, they both seemed equally plausible.

"It's so early though, why are you here?"

"Did Subaru-kun forget? The attempt to subjugate the Hakugei is today."

But this early? "Ah, right; and Rem-"

"Yes, Subaru-kun?"

"If you want to see me, all you need to do is ask."

Rem slightly untensed and widened her eyes, not taking them off of Subaru. A soft red crept onto her cheeks as she was given permission from her beloved to seek private-time whenever.

"All Rem needs to do is ask…"

"Ye- wait wait wait I see your eye! Stop thinking whatever you're thinking! SHTAP! … Oh my god… my purity… my dignity has been tarnished…"

Rem shook her head to dispel the devious thoughts she had from time to time. The… raunchier parts of her fantasies were definitely a thing. Rem smiled as she watched Subaru blush and cower away from her gaze. She closed her eyes and approached the bed, folding her gown under her and taking a seat next to the scarred boy.

"Since Rem has gotten express permission from her Subaru, Rem would like a headpat."

Subaru unfolded and snickered.

"Daring today, are we?"

He obliged.

The two sat in silence as the sun slowly rose. It was still super early, there was time before there would be any summons to breakfast and departure. Absentmindedly, Subaru wondered what Roswaal had been doing all this time. Rem leaned into his chest.

Rem felt her lips pull into a smile as she gazed at Subaru with an upturned gaze. He might not know it, but his lips were also slowly forming a smile. His eyes looked so round and soft. His fingers in her hair felt so calming. Rem felt completely comfortable and at ease. She could fall asleep like this, settled in the soft caress of his fingers and the slight brush on her cheek from his weird clothing.

If she could capture this moment forever she would.

It made Rem feel so nice when he said goodnight to Rem, I want to feel more of this...

"Subaru…"

Rem snaked her arm behind Subaru and pushed his head to face her as she raised her own. She scooted closer, straightening her back to rise even higher, while Subaru's head was pushed closer to her. They were so close… Rem could feel his breath on her cheeks. She closed her eyes. Any moment now, that distance would become zero.

Then something weird happened. Rem felt herself putting strength into pulling Subaru closer. She abruptly removed her arm and created distance, not even looking Subaru in the eyes as she scooted away.

"R-Rem is sorry, Rem should have asked…"

"I-It's ok Rem, I can understand. I was just surprised at the suddenness."

Rem glanced at Subaru out of the corner of her eye and saw a mirror image of what she must look like. Turned away, hands in the lap, face as red as a tomato.

…

"Rem, th-"

"Subaru doesn't need to thank Rem for anything."

Subaru whirled around to look at Rem with a confused expression.

"What? No! Incorrect! Totally wrong! There is no way I would be here without you! I should shower you with thanks every day for the rest of my life! Thank you!"

Rem fidgeted as she tried to contain her feelings.

"If Subaru speaks like that then Rem might go through with what was about to happen, regardless of Subaru's struggling."

This made Subaru realize once more that Rem is strong as fuck and could literally do anything she wanted to him. Self-preservation made him not voice that thought though.

"Still, thank you for everything, Rem."

"Rem was just giving to you what you gave to Rem."

"Huh?"

Rem giggled.

"Heheh, Subaru can be so clueless sometimes. Though-"

Rem turned to face Subaru and quickly pecked him on the cheek. Her lips lingered on his cheek for a second before pulling away just enough to no longer be touching him but still extremely close. Her breath in his ear made Subaru shiver.

"-that's another thing Rem finds extremely cute about you. Rem loves you."

Rem pulled away as Subaru started to malfunction.

"I- ok."

"Heh."

—

Knock knock.

"Meiss-san? It is Wilhelm, the time is upon us to prepare for the Hakugei."

The door to the room opened, revealing a much-more groomed Meiss. He was still dressed in sleepwear though. Wilhelm thought he saw something, a greyness in the young man's icy blue eyes. It was immediately covered by a fresh layer of snow though, adding softness and life to the previous dullness.

Wilhelm hesitated for a moment.

"Sorry to make you come all this way to wake me up, thanks though, I'm usually a bad sleeper and miss alarms and such."

"No problem, Meiss-san." I won't press that, the Hakugei is enough to think about already.

The rambunctious voice of Subaru caught Wilhelm's attention. The energetic boy was gesturing violently while talking to the maid Rem. Wilhelm felt something deep within him stir as he saw the two of them. The old man smiled.

"To be young."

"What?"

Meiss poked his golden head into the hallway, immediately latching his gaze onto the couple walking away from them.

"Heh, the maid's room was further away… Actually I feel like being a nuisance."

Stepping into the hallway and cupping his mouth, Meiss shouted.

"DID YOU HAVE FUN TOGETHER?"

Subaru whipped around, face red.

"URUSAI!"

Rem was much tamer, glancing at Meiss and Wilhelm and winking.

—

A few minutes later, the combined forces of Crusch, Subaru, and Anastasia's efforts gathered to eat a meal before venturing out. It was hearty, all of the soldiers knew the risks of fighting, but only a select few knew of the absolute horror the Hakugei is. For those few, this personal battle is much more frightening.

"Nyow nyow, we can't have our fighters operating at anything less than tip-top shape, nya?"

"Oi Ferris, what are you talking about?"

Subaru, enjoying himself with a drumstick, leaned over the table as Ferris groped at Meiss. The blonde creased his brows as he tried to evade the nimble hands. The two weren't even sitting down, Meiss having just arrived with a drumstick of his own.

"Eh? Tip-top? I'm a guy just below the apex of totally average. Nothing wrong with me whatsoever."

"At least try to sound more convincing."

Subaru squinted at the out-of-character remark from Ferris. It seemed to unsettle Meiss too, as he barely reacted when Ferris grabbed his left forearm. The cat rubbed his palm over Meiss' sleeve with a pout on his face.

"Honestly, nya… why do people do this."

Without hesitation, Ferris yanked Meiss' sleeve down. This earned a yelp from Meiss as he yanked his arm away and tried desperately to roll the sleeve down. It was no use, an unraveling bandage wrapped around his forearm prevented the material from sliding down easily.

"Uh, I didn't do this. It happened in a fight."

"Hmm, nya nya-"

"I don't know how you make that seem so dismissive."

"-just unwrap it the rest of the way. Ferri-chyan needs to heal it."

"Haah…"

Seeing as his right hand was occupied, Meiss gripped the bandage with his teeth and pulled it loose. He then wiggled his arm awkwardly and let the cloth drop to the floor.

"Wow."

Meiss' forearm boasted a multitude of healing lacerations on the outside.

"This shouldn't be something you 'wow' at, Subaru."

"Ah, right, you're right."

Meiss took a bite of drumstick as Ferris ran his fingers over the ridges of newly-forming scars. Blue light poured from his fingers for a second as he worked his magic. Subaru watched in amazement as the swelling and redness gradually subsided, and discolored divots formed on the skin. Ferris sighed, before stepping back and admiring his handiwork.

"Irregardless of how you got hurt, you should have seen a healer. Especially since your muscles were affected, though that's all fixed now. Nya, Ferri-chyan will nyever understand why people are so stubborn... Hah?"

Ferris snapped to attention.

"Ferri-chyan thinks he heard Crusch-chyan!"

Subaru sat back in his seat and sighed. Ferris bolted off somewhere.

"Man, such a free spirit."

"Mmh."

"Hm?"

Subaru turned to look at Meiss. The blonde was looking at Ferris' quickly retreating back.

"… Thinking."

—

Subaru rubbed the top of his new ground dragon's head. Patrasche was what he had named her. Despite warnings of the stubbornness present in diana ground dragons, Patrasche seemed to take an almost immediate liking to Subaru. Unfortunately, Subaru had no idea how to ride Patrasche. The duty of making sure Subaru didn't become one with the ground was given to Rem. They climbed onto the dragon together.

"You can hold me tighter, Subaru-kun. Rem isn't a delicate flower."

"I am aware, you are at least five Subaru's strong."

"It's rude to say that to a woman; Rem is at least twenty Subaru-kun's worth of strength."

"..."

They rode the entire way to the Flugal tree in silence.

—

"So, Meiss-san."

"What's with that weird look, nya?"

Faced with the duo of cat-boy and not cat-boy, Meiss felt at a loss.

Wilhelm is there too, but he's radiating a destructive aura. The kind of aura that says 'I will rend the skin from your body if you annoy me.' Frankly, Meiss is going to trust his self-preservation instincts with this one and not bug him.

Back to the topic. On the one hand, honorifics made Meiss feel weird and he could make that known, if anything just to make conversation. On the other hand, Crusch is someone of high status and would probably not care for Meiss' preference. This is based solely on preconceived notions of nobles from beyond the cascade, however, Crusch didn't seem like someone who was stuck-up.

"It's nothing. Honorifics aren't used in my culture so it's a bit weird to be referred to with one."

Crusch rested her head in her palm, absentmindedly fiddling with her shin armour with the other hand.

"Hah, that doesn't seem to be a lie. Interesting though, all of the countries use honorifics. Where are you from exactly, Meiss?"

Ferris perked up at Crusch's smile, seemingly interested in this question.

Meiss placed a finger to his chin, then raised it to his hairline and parted his hair to get a clearer look at Crusch and Ferris.

"How would you feel if I didn't tell you?"

Ferris narrowed his eyes. Crusch closed hers and sighed.

"Awfully suspicious, nya? What's wrong exactly with telling us your place of origin?"

"Nothing, Ferris. If he wishes to not reveal where he comes from that is his decision… though since you are a complete stranger to even Subaru-sama who brought you to us, you can't exactly be trusted."

Meiss shrugged, if that's their approach then fine. Though it's not like he has ever given a reason to be trusted either. Meiss leveled a stare at Crusch before speaking.

"Well how about I'm from somewhere you have never seen nor will possibly ever see? Does that set off any of your jingle bells?"

Ferris glared at Meiss skeptically before swiveling his head to look at Crusch. The green-haired woman only sighed again and leaned back.

"He must believe what he just said with every fiber of himself to state that so confidently."

"I do. Seeing my situation, I doubt I'll even be able to return to my home."

Crusch narrowed her brows at this statement, before waving it off entirely. The troubles of a stranger were frivolous compared to the troubles the Hakugei causes. There was no need to dwell on Meiss' statement. The entire reason Meiss was even in Crusch's carriage was because of his obscurity and sudden arrival. Having the two most powerful members of the joint factions, plus Ferris, watching over him in case he decided to do something funny was par for the course.

Inwardly, Meiss wondered about the whale itself. He knew next to nothing about it, nor even what the Flugal Tree is. It might not even be a tree. Meiss looked up through his bangs at Ferris and Crusch before inhaling to speak.

"What even is this Hakugei thing?"

Ferris leaned forward, mouth agape.

"You don't knyow what the Hakugei is?"

"Oi, if my home is so culturally distant that I don't have honorifics, do you really think I'm going to know what this whale thing is?"

"YES! IT FLIES!"

"...Oh."

Crusch looked at Ferris warmly as the cat gentured around wildly.

"It has fog! It eats you! It's giant, flies, and shoots fog! How can you live in this world and nyot know of it's existence! Are you by chance an imbecile?"

Crusch lightly reprimanded Ferris for his comment before she leaned in.

"It is quite peculiar that you do not know of the Hakugei, considering it's formidable status and general size. Even if you were from Priestella, the isolated far north of Gusteko, or even one of the islands dotting the great cascade you must surely know of it. No?"

"No."

Crusch looked at Meiss as if he was some oddity, an abnormal being. She sat back and moved to cross her legs, but her armour restricted that certain movement so she settled back into a neutral sitting position. She turned to the front of the carriage and stared at a tall shadow appearing slowly. Meiss could see it clearly, the dark outline of a massive tree. It stood unmoving, the stars behind it twinkling coldly.

Still looking at the tree, the size of it not fully registering in his head, Meiss queried.

"What is the plan here? If it's flying that means we need some sort of ranged weaponry right? … Sorry you must have already thought of that. I just want to know where I might fit in for the scheme."

Ferris giggled at Meiss' apology. He waved his hand dismissively.

"Ferri-chyan thought someone told you earlier! Nyo need to apologize for a good suggestion, though it's kinda late to change anything."

Ferris' bubbly appearance melted as he got more serious.

"To start off, and rather to make things easier for us, we are using a nyightbanisher to remove the Hakugei's advantage in the dark. With this clear line of sight established we will then bombard it with our cannyons while Subaru-kyun distracts it."

Meiss tilted his head. Nightbanisher was easy enough to deduce the purpose of, but Subaru distracting?

"Subaru's distracting it?" Maybe they know his power… "Does he have some sort of ability that allows it? Cause I would be very cranky at the people pelting me with projectiles rather than the one guy running around like a headless chicken."

"Nyahaha! What an image! Though Ferri-chyan is nyot sure. Subaru-kyun merely told us that demonbeasts are attracted to him, this was backed by Rem-chyan's confirmation. Apparently there was an incident with demon beasts half a month ago."

Meiss rested his chin in his palm. While attracting wild animals is by no means impossible to have as a power, it would be pretty useless without some way to manipulate the animals. Ferris implied that attracting was the extent of Subaru's abilities. No, if that is Subaru's power then there is no way he survived this long with it. Drawing hostile animals closer with no way to control them? Suicide for someone who seems to be an ordinary person.

"Hmm… if Subaru's going to play cat and mouse while we shoot the cat with a gun, what about slowing down the cat to make it easier to shoot? I could do that, since what I can do is almost purely offensive oriented."

"Ferri-chyan has no idea what this 'gun' is, but that's basically what Will-ji is going to be doing. Will-ji has a personal grudge against the Hakugei, and has volunteered to mount it and weaken it from close-range. Nyo worries for him though, this jiji wouldn't be called the Sword Demon for nyothing!"

Sword Demon, what a cool name.

Meiss glanced at Wilhelm.

What was he like in his hay-day? If he can volunteer to fight a giant flying whale he must still be super strong.

—

It didn't take long for the convoy to reach the Flugal Tree. Subaru said that the Hakugei would arrive around 11:30 P.M., that leaves about an hour to prepare before the Hakugei is believed to arrive. Meiss considered questioning how Subaru knew this exact time, but decided it wasn't important and would distract him from the actual dangers.

As for Meiss' part in this, he is going to assist Wilhelm in trying to ground the whale to make the cannon's day easier. It didn't take long for the cannons to be set up, resulting in a nervous air permeating the ranks of soldiers in anticipation of the Hakugei. The ones with grievances were exempt, steeled as if they were going to finally get closure for their loved ones.

He scanned the grounds, looking for Subaru. Rather, he should look for Rem, since her hair stands out much more. After a second of looking, Meiss spotted Rem with Subaru by a secluded root. Of course. Heh...

Don't take too long over there, this isn't some romcom with infinite time.

—

"So Rem, you brought me away from everyone. Why?

"Subaru-kun said Rem should just ask if she wants to spend time with you."

"I did say that."

Rem smiled as she sat on a root. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath before looking up at Subaru.

"Rem's hero… Rem will support you in whatever you do. Rem has noticed Subaru skirt around the truth quite often in dire times. For whatever reason you do this, just know that Rem will believe you, always. So no trying to slyly convince Rem, because even if you told me the capital would be eaten by rabbits, or perhaps the moon would fall, Rem would believe it."

Subaru didn't really know how to respond. On the one hand this made him feel warm inside, on the other, she would believe him if he said the capital was eaten by bunnies? Why? Something like that would never happen. Bunnies are perfectly harmless creatures that eat grass. Do they eat grass? ... What do bunnies eat?

"You know that Rem's oni heritage enhances Rem's senses greatly, right, Subaru?"

"Uh, yeah."

"Well, this is not limited to only Rem's sense of smell. Rem also has improved eyesight and hearing. Rem heard something interesting on the way here…"

"Oi oi oi Remu… did you eavesdrop on someone?"

"Yes."

Subaru did a double take. Perhaps he should shift his views on Rem slightly.

"Subaru, where are you from?"

Subaru pressed his lips together before looking down at the ground.

"I miss Emilia-tan, she never asked such pressing questions- OW!"

Rem sat composed, like an angel. She would, of course, never jab anyone in the ribs. She tilted her head to Subaru, smiling.

"Where is Subaru's place of birth?"

Subaru nursed his ribs.

"Why the sudden interest?"

Rem looked away with a pleased expression, eyes closed.

"Rem heard Meiss say that he is uncomfortable with honorifics; not only is Subaru completely fine with honorifics, but you even address a few of us at Roswaal-sama's mansion with more playful honorifics. Rem thought that discrepancy was weird."

Subaru blanched. This possibility had never occurred to him, though Meiss was still a new person and Subaru hadn't really had the time to mull over what their shared circumstances would mean in the long run. Or even if there was a long run, Meiss may very well help with the Hakugei and be on his way.

Subaru could very well lie, but Rem had just once again spoken about her absolute faith in him. He twirled his thumbs a bit before speaking.

"Well to be completely honest, I never told the whole truth about where I came from. Truth is, Meiss and I aren't from this world. What's it called here… we're from beyond the great cascade."

Rem blinked for a few seconds, did she hear correctly? From beyond the great cascade? Such hearsay wasn't common, even among the most deranged or desperate for fame. But… Rem had watched Subaru for hours on end enough times… I mean, been with Subaru long enough to recognize when he lied. The thought was sobering, and almost seemed to make sense.

It would explain her Subaru's wonderful eccentricities at least.

Subaru playful bumped her shoulder with his own, startling Rem from her thoughts.

"That was a scary thinking face; must be a lot to take in, huh?"

Rem shook her head.

"The contrary, this makes sense even if it is hard to believe."

Subaru sighed, relieved at how surprisingly easy that was to reveal.

Rem suddenly took his hand in hers and squeezed it. Subaru stared at their connected hands for a moment.

"Eh, Rem? Is something the matter?"

Rem put a finger to her mouth questioningly, smiling.

"Hmm, does there need to be?"

Sensing that there was no underlying reason to the handholding, Subaru nervously looked down. He was caught unawares when Rem lightly brushed his lips with her index and middle finger. Subaru nearly jumped from his skin as Rem laughed and placed the fingers on her own lips.

"Wha. Wha wha?"

As the implications of Rem's actions sunk in Subaru started to malfunction. Rem smiled with her fingers still on her lips, savoring the stupid sounds Subaru was making and the faint taste of him her oni senses could pick up from her fingers.

"Rem feels like she could do anything right now."

—

Subaru sat behind Rem while on Patrasche. He confidently held out his phone as the clock read 11:29 P.M. Behind him and Rem, he could feel the gazes of Wilhelm and Meiss on the screen. They were the only ones close enough to see, as they were the main two going to be physically assaulting the whale.

The minute advanced, and with almost no delay a jarring series of beeps echoed among the silent army.

Yet the sky was quiet.

Subaru started to sweat for an uncomfortable moment. Where was it? Why wasn't it here? Had he done something to make it not appear here? What would happen if it never came?

His anxiety lasted for a moment longer before an ear-splitting wail threatened to pop his eardrums. Subaru could feel Rem tense in front of him as she looked down to make sure Subaru's hands were now tightly wrapped around her abdomen.

Unadulterated drive, fury, and grief seemed to flow from behind them as the Whale appeared on the horizon.